Updated YouTube app finally available on Windows Phone store

Windows Phone users awaiting the availability of the YouTube app on their platform have a reason to celebrate now. After a brief spell of absence, the app is finally available on the Windows Phone store . 

With the YouTube app on their Windows Phone-running devices, users can access their account and explore and manage the site’s vast reserves of videos and channels. In addition to viewing content on YouTube, WP users can also share videos with their friends via social networks, email and text messages. Users can pin videos, playlists, channels, and search queries to the Start screen as Live Tiles. In addition to all of the above, the app is also integrated with Kid’s Corner, so as to help parents ensure that their kids are watching videos appropriate for their age. The app works with devices running Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.5. 

Screenshots of the app

Importantly, the updated app no longer features the ability to download the videos. 

While the return of the app to the Windows Phone store is a joyous moment, we knew all along that it was coming. Both the companies – Google and Microsoft – had decided in May to work together to create the app for the WP platform. The idea was to have an app compliant with all of Google’s Terms of Services for YouTube and include advertisements as per the search giant’s demand. 

In a joint statement, the companies had said, “Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube’s API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time.”

For those who are a little late to this party, Microsoft, in January, had accused Google of hindering the development of a full-fledged YouTube app for Windows Phone. Earlier in May, Microsoft finally managed to launch a native YouTube app much to the joy of Windows Phone users. Unfortunately, Windows Phone users’ delight was short-lived as Google issued a cease-and-desist letter to Microsoft to block or pull the app from its store. Amongst problems like video download and non-availability of ads, the main point of contention was that Google didn’t give the go ahead for the app before it was launched.